Adolescent
Responses to Televised Beer Advertisements:
Children of Alcoholics and Others

Background

Alcohol advertising research methodology

In general, there are two research designs for studies on the influence of alcohol
advertising: experimental designs and field survey studies. Experimental designs
expose subjects to advertisements in a controlled laboratory setting (although some field
experiments are able to emulate a naturalistic exposure pattern) and measure outcome
variables including alcohol consumption, intent to purchase alcohol, actual purchasing
behavior, knowledge about alcohol and affective reactions to the ads.1,2,3,4,5
Based on current experimental literature, there is no conclusive evidence that direct
exposure to advertisements influences any of these outcome measures; however, this may be
a result of the methodological limitations of the laboratory setting.6
Field survey studies use correlational data to determine how the frequency of subjects'
exposure to advertising predicts a variety of beliefs and expectancies about alcohol. For
example, Strickland's 1983 study measured the correlation between seventh, ninth and
eleventh graders' exposure to television commercials for alcohol and the students'
quantity and frequency of drinking.7

Overall, research has shown a mildly positive association between
high viewing frequency and more positive attitudes toward alcohol.

Attributes of alcohol advertising

Like all advertising, beer advertising seeks to initiate or
increase consumption of the products, as well as shift consumers from one brand to
another. Ads may reduce inhibitions to consuming alcohol by showing that drinking is
normative behavior or inundate the viewer with repeated visual associations between the
product and appealing imagery. Lifestyle ads often depict rewarding consequences of
alcohol consumption, such as romance, sexual encounters, patriotism, friendship,
popularity, escape, adventure, relaxation and wealth.8,9

Advertisements may also extol product quality, try to
differentiate one brand from another, or use repeated images of the product to increase
buyers' recognition and familiarity.

How advertising influences behavior

Numerous theories account for the way beer advertising
affects adolescent audiences. Stimulus-centered explanations include observational
learning (disinhibition and reminder cues), message-learning, cultivation of societal
beliefs, classical conditioning, and knowledge acquisition. Receiver-oriented theories
include cognitive response theory and expectancy-value theory. For a complete discussion
of these theories with examples of how they apply to alcohol advertising, see Atkin, 1989.10

Children and adolescents' exposure to alcohol advertisements

Various researchers have estimated that a typical adolescent
encounters over 2,000 beer, wine, and liquor ads in newspapers, magazines, television,
radio, and billboards each year.11 Much of the exposure to television
commercials takes the form of beer advertising on sports programming, where there is an
average of two commercials per hour.12 In contrast, during prime-time fictional
programming only about one alcohol advertisement appears every four hours. While there is
substantial variability in how much viewers attend to these ads, it is clear that young
people view beer, and sometimes, wine ads.

Research on alcohol advertising's effects on children and
adolescents

Studies have shown that younger adolescents and children may
be unaware of some of the messages in alcohol advertisements, but children ages 14 and
older are able to accurately process messages in commercials.13 Children of
about age 10 begin to attend to advertisements, with increasing attention between 10 and
14 years. By the age of 16, adolescents routinely list alcohol advertisements among their
favorite commercials.14

A 1984 Atkin and Block study found that positive attitudes towards
drinking and/or alcohol were moderately associated with exposure to advertising.15
Adolescents who were heavily exposed to advertising were more likely to feel that drinkers
have positive characteristics, such as being attractive, athletic or successful. They were
also more likely to drink and drink heavily.

A 1988 study showed that young drinkers report higher levels of
exposure to alcohol advertisements, are more accurate at identifying beer brands, and have
more positive opinions about alcohol advertisements than nondrinkers.16 This
relationship was maintained even when factors such as peer influence and gender were
controlled.

A relatively recent study of children and alcohol advertising showed
that those who were more aware of beer advertising had increased recognition of beer
slogans and brands, and held more positive beliefs about drinking than less-aware
children.17 Critically, they also reported more intention to drink as adults.
This study may be differentiated from others that preceded it because it tested both
exposure and attention to advertising, instead of just exposure. The researchers concluded
that there is evidence that "alcohol advertising causes children to become more
predisposed toward drinking."

Children of alcoholics

More than 7 million children across the nation grow up in
families where one or more parent has a drinking problem. These young people are
especially at risk for a broad array of problems, including their own future addiction to
alcohol and other drugs.

Compared to other youngsters, children of alcoholics suffer more
injuries and illnesses, and are hospitalized more often for psychiatric problems and
substance abuse. They are at increased risk for being abused and neglected, being
victimized by incest, and witnessing parental violence. They comprise a disproportionately
high number of children with eating disorders, and are more likely to attempt suicide than
their peers.

These children are also more likely to be involved in some of
society's most intractable problems: crime, delinquency, violence, teen pregnancy, poor
academic achievement and dropping out of school, running away from home, and addiction.18

Many children of alcoholics think they are alone. They feel ashamed
of their parents, and are often reluctant to make friends, fearing that if they bring
friends home to play, their parent may be drinking or acting strangely. They may feel
responsible for their parents' addiction, and believe that if they were better behaved,
studied more, excelled in sports, or kept the house immaculate, their parents would not
drink so much.

Some children of alcoholics adapt to family chaos by acting out.
Others become unusually responsible, taking care of siblings and the household. Still
others withdraw, trying to hide themselves from the craziness at home. Because addiction
carries with it both secrecy and denial, children of alcoholics are often unable to talk
to the very people -- friends and professionals -- who might be able to give them the help
and support they need.

Because of this vulnerability and the potential for widespread and
serious physical and emotional harm, it is important that research on alcohol advertising
make special efforts to understand the impact of ads on children of alcoholics. Are these
young people more skeptical of scenes associating alcohol use with fun times, knowing how
they differ from realities at home? Or do they find themselves particularly attracted to
these ads? Are children of alcoholics more susceptible to the messages broadcast in
commercials?